Alcohol Advertising - Design context essay by Javier Escarabajal Perez

Alcohol advertising

BAD! Since alcohol was invented it has been used to socialise and have fun. However, a lot of companies along the years have advertised it as something else by promoting it unethically and by using sexist images and stereotypes to push people to be loyal to their brand.

Because of that I decided to review how this product is sold around the world.

Throughout this essay, I will use examples of every decade to see the evolution of alcohol advertising since the 1950s and provide my point of view at the end.

Stigmas, Sexuality And Progress?

Stigmas

In the 50s/60s the economy experienced an increase of 37% and as a result of this situation the wealth of families around America was estimated to have grown around 30%. Some alcohol companies took advantage of this situation to come up with new concepts for advertising.

The posters and the campaigns were mainly about consuming at home, or social gatherings indoors. The overall message was “alcohol can positively transform you and your universe from inside out”. Back then it was noticed that the black community was not represented or shown on any advertising but rather there were mainly white couples (housewife and husband), a single woman, or the best scenario just the product on the posters.

The diversity was inexistent and the people that appear in the advertising

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were around 20 to 30 years old with the male figure being noticeable older than the female.

Sex sells, unethical sells or stigmas were some of the strategies that several of those companies used to attract consumers, as for example the figure of a woman who sells alcohol by targeting men. This was not something new but on those particular decades the advertising of alcohol was focused on comparing, correcting and focussing on women by making them look incompetent, clumsy or solely in the role of a housewife serving the husband/ boyfriend who would almost always wear a tie and a suit. During the 50s Schlitz beer released an advertisement showing a casual scene where a housewife was crying because she burned the dinner and while the food is shown carbonised on the pan the husband is hugging her and saying “Don’t worry darling, you didn’t burn the

Sexism, stigmas and stereotypes to sell alcohol.

beer”. This is a clear example of the role of women in society at that time and how sexist the advertising was back then. In addition, it is a sign of her incompetence because she did burn the dinner but not the beer which is not possible to do. Another example of the stereotypes back then was a Budweiser campaign showing a woman serving a beer to a man in a flirtatious way while he is taking a break from his work.

The tools spread in front of him symbolise his masculinity while the behaviour of the woman shows her inferiority towards him.

Women are there to serve their men while men make a living in order to put food on the table.The last examples that that will be used are from 1969 Martini and Ramazzoti drinks, two of the most famous Italian brands, who also used a figure of a woman but in a different way. The Martini advertisement shows a woman in a sofa holding a glass with martini rosso and the

slogan “The Italian you won’t forget”. This word play implies that the consumer will neither forget the beautiful Italian woman in the picture or the Italian drink she holds which makes this a sex sell yet again.

The connection of alcohol and sexual encounter is very evident in this particular poster. The company Ramazzoti approached the advertising from another angle for its Amaro Vermouth product.

The company compares a blond woman with the drink saying “Una bionda nel secco” which means “A blond in the dry”. This description of the woman on the poster being exactly like the drink suggests that she is in need of a sexual encounter and the male consumer who enjoys Amaro Vermouth can offer her that. Another example of a woman’s body used as an object to make the product desirable for men.

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Sexualit During the 70s and the 80s the world of the advertising became even more sexualized and the stereotypes of the past decades could no longer be applied to this “New world”.

it is so obvious during the 70s, 80s and even the 90s.

The fashion trends also contribute to that happening by reaffirming beauty stands that most people want to achieve.

The advertising is driven by society and as it became more open in terms of sexuality and fashion the industry takes advantage of this progress to make more straight forward campaigns. It is apparent in the kind of clothes that the models wore, and the amount of flesh revealed.

One case of unethical advertising in 1971 is that of Ballentine’s which politicised womens’ bodies and was used to push politics ideas within an alcohol product.

The advertising shows three girls modelling under the slogan “Liberated Loyalist”.

The advertising of J&B “Scotch and the single girl “in 1972, Pepe Lopez tequila in 1979 or tequila Torada are accurate examples of how women are sexualized to aggressively sell a product. The backside of a girl is shown with Pepe Lopez Tequila written on the swimsuit in order to target a particular audience. This indicates the kind of consumers that those big companies of tequila have in mind. J&B have a similar target but a different way to proceed.

Generally, an improvement is observed during this decade on the quality and the style of the advertising due to the upgraded hardware, enhanced quality image, faster working and the tone of colours however the diversity and the minorities were still rarely represented.

Unfortunately, the idea of using a woman to target men is still very much present.

The main difference from the 50s/60s is that now the woman is just used as a sexual toy and the advertisement focusses on particular parts of the body which indicate a calling for sexual encounters or a slogan that suggests a woman can be owned by the consumer.

Most part of the industry is built on the idea that alcohol and sex go together, and

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They show a girl with a very fashionable white coat, holding a bottle of whiskey and the slogan previously mentioned which implies two possible situations: either that you can buy a bottle of whisky to seduce this attractive girl or even worst, that she comes along with the purchase of the bottle.

Those are different approaches to an unethical advertisement which practically scream that a woman can be owned or that she is open for a sexual seduction based on the kind of clothes that she is wearing.

Works.

ty

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The Prog Finally, in the 90s and the 2000s a positive change starts to appear such as the inclusion of the LGBTQ in some of the advertising. Absolut vodka released a campaign showing their product with the LGBTQ flag in a black background. This period is also an improvement in terms of the target audience that companies choose. Women start being more the target of big brands.

companies start to target the youth as it is evident in the advertising of Eva Williams.

We see someone who appears to be a boring girl with old fashioned clothes in a black and white photo and next to that another photo of the same girl but this time older and sexier after consuming this bourbon. One of the most exaggerated and unethical campaign to tell young girls how they should look like.As society started Captain Morgan create a copy of the to be aware of the danger of alcohol, it 70s/80s advertising but instead of a became usual to see advertisements woman we see now a man wearing just of drinks accompanied by food and in underwear in a suggestive position. Now particular snacks. Alcohol at this point the man is the one who is viewed like also became something that can signify an object or sexual toy. As a result of your status. An expensive whisky could this, it is understood that sex no matter demonstrate that you were in a good the gender sells in any product. Women financial situation or the choice of a cheap are considered independent but still one could have the opposite effect. attached to the beauty standards and This kind of marketing categorised people

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gress according to their income with society judging and overlooking the ones from a lower social class. This is how they kept people’s interest towards their products as costumers were desperately looking for a place on top of the social pyramid. The same concept that fashion applies with the brands and nowadays the technology.

Usually, vodka due to the neutral flavour that it has it has been advertised using the concept of purity in the number of times that the alcohol has been distilled which made consumers think that is not as bad as other spirits. Luxury is a word that describes this type of alcohol as we can see in the advertising of Purity vodka: minimalistic, well designed and modern.

Belvedere is another brand of vodka that during the 2000s created one of the most controversial advertisements of this decade. Pretending to be modern and

still a lot to do.

referencing the smooth flavour of the product we can see a man embracing a woman from behind on black and white.

The slogan of this campaign was “unlike some people Belvedere always goes down smoothly”. The advertising created a huge reaction on social media with the majority of people understanding that this man was about to rape the woman and that this was considered acceptable by the brand.

Due to the fact that in the 2000s most of the companies changed the way of advertising, nowadays a lot of people not only look for a good product but a reliable and ethical philosophy behind it. That’s why at this point it is mainly groups of people having fun around a bucket full of beers in a bar or in an open space.

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The conclusion of the alcohol advertising is that some companies have reflected on situations within the society and exaggerated them in their marketing. Whatever the target audience wants, either a perfect body or a sexual encounter or a high social status, it can all be achieved by buying those products and by being loyal to certain brands.

By appealing to people’s insecurity and dreams, big corporations of alcohol earned and continue to earn tons of money. It does not matter to them that people chase the impossible and get disappointed. Like a lot of other products alcohol brands are making up necessities that are not real.

A. J. Escarabajal Pérez

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